Winter's Spell, page 33
Clare turned to Mo. “No, I didn’t. But to be honest, I didn’t think it was possible. I’d taken her to the beach as a baby a few times and put her in the water—just her legs of course—but nothing ever happened.”
Roxy looked back at Rhoda and was surprised to see tears filling her eyes behind their dark black glasses frames.
“I feel like I’ve lost something I never even knew I had,” said Rhoda, sniffing, and Clare put her arms around her in a hug.
“Please,” said Mo seriously. “Do not cry. All is not lost. All mermaids have within them the power to return to their first form.”
“How can I return if I’ve never done it?” said Rhoda between sobs.
“She has a point,” said Roxy to Mo.
Mo shook her head as if to shake away the idea. “It is inside you. You have this power. I can help you. I will help you both—if you want it.”
Clare and Rhoda broke apart and looked at Mo. “Are you serious? Do you think there’s hope for her—and for me?” said Clare.
“I know it, as you say, in my heart of hearts,” said Mo. “At the next full moon, we will try it. I promise.” She hugged them both in turn. “That is, of course, as long as Lisa is okay with it,” added Mo. “It could be dangerous so I will explain to her.”
“Huh?” said Roxy. She looked at Tessa. What did Lisa have to do with this?
Roxy felt like she was inside someone else’s dream as she watched Mo go over to Lisa, who was still talking to one last fan. After snapping a selfie, the fan left, and they all watched Mo talk to Lisa, gesturing over at Clare and Rhoda. Then Lisa smiled and nodded and, of all things, put her arms around Mo and kissed her.
Dead on the lips.
* * *
Roxy sighed. The sight of Tessa’s body never ceased to amaze her—or turn her on.
She cupped one of Tessa’s breasts in her hand while kissing the other one, nuzzling it with her nose until Tessa giggled, then nibbling it with her teeth and sucking her nipple until it stood erect. She heard Tessa breathe in sharply, and she squeezed the other breast a little harder, teeth pulling on her nipple.
“Oh, Roxy,” Tessa whispered.
They were naked in Tessa’s bed, clothes thrown on the floor in uneven piles. Their bodies pressed together, and Roxy felt the heat in her body building like a slow fire.
She moved her mouth to Tessa’s and kissed her, hard and deep. Tessa arched her back, pushing her body into Roxy, and Roxy dropped her hands to Tessa’s soft backside and squeezed. Tessa began kissing her neck, leaving a trail of love bites there, each one inflaming Roxy’s desire even more.
Roxy pushed Tessa down onto the pillows on the bed and began kissing her neck and breasts again, feeling her own body responding as she saw and felt Tessa’s passion beneath her.
“Mmm, no, not like this,” murmured Tessa. With a sudden, swift movement, Roxy found herself being rolled over so that Tessa was now on top of her, sitting astride her hips, with Roxy underneath her. She felt Tessa’s hot wetness grinding into her pelvis, and it felt delicious. “I want to make you come,” said Tessa and she grinned a naughty grin before leaning over Roxy and taking one of Roxy’s nipples into her mouth.
The sensation was almost too much to bear. Roxy felt her entire body respond to the feeling of sucking and nibbling. After a moment, Tessa shifted to the other breast and administered her attentions there, and Roxy felt she could really see stars.
Roxy began to feel the start of an orgasm coming on, and she breathed deeply. It was too soon. She wanted this to last. She shifted them again so she was back on top.
Roxy pinned Tessa’s hands with her own on either side of her head. “Give it up, baby. I’m on top now.”
“So you think,” said Tessa with a glint in her eye that made Roxy excited for whatever was coming next.
Roxy leaned over her and began to kiss her, sliding her tongue into Tessa’s mouth. She used one arm to keep herself steady over Tessa, and the other hand she moved between Tessa’s legs.
“Oh God, you’re wet,” she breathed before starting to kiss Tessa again. She slid her fingers between Tessa’s hot folds, gliding in the wetness before circling her clit, which was already hard and erect. She plunged a finger inside her, and Tessa moaned into her mouth. “That’s right, baby. I’m king today.”
Tessa moaned again and then, unexpectedly, shifted herself again. One minute Roxy was on top, the next it was Tessa.
“Tonight, you come first,” said Tessa, sliding down Roxy’s body and positioning herself between Roxy’s legs.
A second later, Roxy felt the delicious sensation of Tessa’s tongue on her sex. It was indescribably hot, and Roxy had no idea how long she could hang on. Tessa’s tongue moved over her expertly. She took her time exploring Roxy’s center, her clit, her everything. Roxy moaned with pleasure. She’d never been with a woman who wanted to go down on her, and she relished the novelty yet again.
The steady, long strokes of her tongue began to increase, focusing more and more on her clit. Roxy felt want, desperate want for release building inside her, as if she were a string on a guitar wound too tightly. She wanted more, and Tessa could sense it. Tessa began sucking her clit just as she slipped a finger deep inside Roxy. The sensation deep within her spread outward, engulfing Roxy, and she felt that she was slipping over an edge in the dark, into a deep pool of release.
Roxy came hard and long, waves of pleasure crashing over her again and again until her body shuddered and came to a stop.
Tessa kissed her before lying down next to her on the pillow.
“Liked that, did you?” she said. Tessa’s voice was still scratchy and low with desire.
“Mm,” was all that Roxy could manage at that point. She was still relishing the sensations that Tessa could produce within her.
In so many of Roxy’s previous relationships, she’d been on the side of providing pleasure. She was comfortable with that—and used to it. And while she’d had some partners who’d been willing to reciprocate, she’d noticed a pattern in which it was often far less than what she’d given them.
With Tessa, it wasn’t like that at all. She gave pleasure—and she was given it in turn. It was a novel sensation, and she loved it.
They snuggled, pulling up the covers over them as their bodies cooled off from their exertion.
Roxy kissed Tessa gently. “That was fabulous.”
“I wanted to do that,” said Tessa. “Lisa—I mean my ex—”
“It’s okay,” said Roxy, with a laugh. “I know who your ex is.”
“Okay, okay, it’s just still a little weird,” said Tessa. “Lisa didn’t like that. She never wanted me to go down on her. So I’m glad you liked it. I liked it, too.”
“That is just about the sexiest thing anyone has ever said to me,” said Roxy, kissing her again.
Tessa sighed and lay back on the pillow. “Wow. What a crazy night.”
“Seriously,” said Roxy. Her mind was slowly returning back to the land of the living.
There was a pause, and Roxy enjoyed the warmth of their closeness, the security she felt with Tessa.
“What did you think of the play?” said Tessa after a moment. She rolled back on her side to be face-to-face with Roxy, and Roxy could see she was anxious.
“It was amazing,” said Roxy truthfully. “I mean that. It was really moving. I don’t get to see a whole lot of plays, but this was really something else. And to see a lesbian relationship in a Shakespeare play? Let’s just say, it wasn’t anything like my high school’s production of Romeo and Juliet.” Roxy mimed gagging, and Tessa laughed.
“So you liked it? Really?”
“Yes. And you should be really proud of yourself. I know I’m proud of you, proud to be your girlfriend,” said Roxy, squeezing Tessa’s hand gently. “You knocked it out of the park.”
“Thank you,” said Tessa.
They snuggled some more in the bed, and soon Roxy noticed that Tessa had fallen asleep. Roxy was feeling sleepy as well, yet somehow sleep wouldn’t come. Slowly, it was dawning on Roxy that the play would be over in just ten days. Then there would be strike, of course, but that was only one day and then…what?
It was true that Tessa lived in Boston, and Roxy lived in Salem. That was a very doable distance for a relationship, but Roxy could already feel that it wasn’t what she wanted with Tessa. And what about her future? Roxy kept wondering if it even made sense to return to Salem. She’d always loved living there, being from there, but Ptown had its charms too—but a commuter relationship between Ptown and Boston was logistically more difficult, and expensive, than Salem to Boston.
Roxy gazed at Tessa, trying to suppress her anxieties. Tessa slept very peacefully, and Roxy knew she was full of good ideas. They both were. She reminded herself that they would find a solution together.
The old Roxy would have thought about doing a cut-and-run in this situation. The stakes were high, emotions were intense, the girl was a keeper. In the past, her anxieties would have gotten the better of her, and she would have turned to self-sabotage.
Instead, Roxy thought about The Winter’s Tale and about how much Tessa loved it and its themes of love conquering old injustices, and reconciliations even after many years. She thought, too, of Rhoda and her mother, and how Rhoda was willing to forgive her mother even when she learned she’d been keeping a massive secret from her for years. Those were all people dealing with way more drama than Roxy and Tessa, and they were making it work.
It was love, after all, that made it all worthwhile—and not the easy come, easy go kind of love. It was a deep, committed kind of love that could be both passionate and tender. Roxy wanted to be with Tessa for years, not weeks or months. And if that meant trying a new career or going back to school, then maybe that was okay. She was only twenty-eight, for crying out loud. They had the whole world at their feet, as long as they had one another.
Chapter Thirty-six—Tessa
A week and a day later, they found themselves yet again, on a beach at night in Provincetown.
Tessa marveled at how much had changed in just four weeks. Aside from the staging of the play and her growing and deepening relationship with Roxy, even the weather was changing. It was much warmer on the beach at night under the full moon in early March than in early February—even if it wasn’t quite bikini weather. Tessa didn’t relish the thought of getting into Cape Cod Bay, but Mo had assured her it wouldn’t be for too long.
The run of The Winter’s Tale was a smash hit, and the second and final week of performances was getting audience members from as far away as New York, Connecticut, and Vermont.
But tonight, with all but one performance left, Tessa was able to concentrate on something else—something wonderful and magical.
She and Roxy were on the beach with Lisa, Joy, Chayo, Mo, Rhoda, and Clare. As instructed by Mo, they’d all removed their shoes and joined hands. Mo was in the middle of their group, with Rhoda and Clare on either side of her. Tessa was next to Rhoda, and Roxy was holding hands with Clare. Joy and Lisa were on the other side of Rhoda, and on the other end of their line was Chayo.
Chayo had been very, well, Chayo, when Tessa told her she was a hedge witch and Mo was a mermaid.
“Girl, please, we Mexicans invented brujería. Ain’t nothing you white girls got on us,” she’d said with a smile. “Honestly, I’m a little miffed you didn’t tell me sooner.” She’d winked and given Tessa a hug, and Tessa knew they were good.
Lisa had already been initiated into Mo’s true nature. Apparently, they’d been sleeping together ever since Mo had returned from the sea.
Tessa wasn’t sure how to feel about their relationship. Mo was so different from Lisa, a free spirit to Lisa’s type A control freak. She supposed, though, that as long as they were both consenting adults, no one else’s opinions mattered, even if it seemed like the unlikeliest of matches. After learning Mo was a mermaid, finding out that Tessa and Roxy were both some version of witches was apparently NBD for Lisa.
The eight of them walked together into the water. The cold icy waves stung Tessa’s legs for a moment before she remembered the spell she and Roxy had practiced with Rhoda to stay warm and keep the rest of their group warm as well.
Soon the water no longer felt cold to them, and they waded farther into the surf.
Tessa wasn’t sure what to expect. Mo hadn’t really been able to explain it to them; mermaid magic was beyond words, apparently.
After a moment, the sea became strangely calm around them, the full moon reflecting on the surface, a perfect glowing sphere. It was indescribably beautiful. Tessa breathed the refreshing night air deeply and felt a sense of peace settle over her. The stars twinkled in the sky like so many diamonds on black velvet, and just for a moment, it was perfectly silent.
Mo began to speak in her language. It was both strange and familiar, this speech of hers, and Tessa realized Mo was singing a beautiful though haunting melody. She and Roxy took that as their cue to channel spells for new beginnings and transformations, all the while holding onto Rhoda and Clare.
It was the work of a moment. One second, Rhoda was standing next to her, holding her hand, the next, she was under the water, and Tessa saw a flicker of a tail disappear beneath the unnaturally still surface of the Bay.
“Where’d they go?” shouted Joy, sounding panicked.
“It’s okay,” said Tessa. She pointed out toward the Bay to where the light from Long Point Light Station shone weakly in the distance. “Look.”
Swimming some ten or fifteen yards in front of them were three mermaids—Mo, Rhoda, and Clare. Their tails flickered in the silvery light of the moon, and while they could not see the rest of them, Tessa recognized that this was a dance of joy and reunion they were witnessing.
Roxy waded over to Tessa and wrapped her arms around her. Tears were rolling down her face, and Tessa felt tears rising to her eyes as well.
“They’re so happy,” sniffed Roxy. “I want you to know, that’s how I feel with you, too.”
Tessa’s heart skipped a beat. Roxy’s words etched themselves into her heart. “Oh, Roxy.”
They embraced, even as the cold of the winter was returning to them, their spell fading as they were distracted from everything else around them except one another.
“Hey, I’m freezing over here,” shouted Chayo.
“Sorry,” said Tessa. “We’d better get that spell going again or we’ll all die out here.”
“Truth,” said Roxy.
They broke apart, except for their hands, renewing their spell to protect them all in the water.
There had been no sign of the Three Sisters, for which Tessa was extremely grateful, but it did no harm to be extra cautious.
The three mermaids were still swimming, frolicking with one another, and it was a joy to watch, but as the minutes ticked by, Tessa could feel the cold creeping back in, despite their spell work.
“Let’s head back to shore,” said Tessa to the others.
Slowly, they made their way back to shore, and Tessa was grateful to be out of the water. When she turned back, she saw Lisa still standing a few yards out in the water, looking out at where Mo was still swimming with the others.
She lifted a hand and waved to Mo, who, head above the waves for a moment, saw her and waved back, blowing a kiss. Lisa then blew a kiss back to her.
This was not the Lisa that Tessa was familiar with. But in that moment, she felt glad for Lisa. She’d found someone who brought out the best in her, and as Tessa reflected over the last three weeks of rehearsals, she realized that Lisa had been acting differently for a while. Tessa hadn’t noticed it because Lisa’s behavior had been…easier to deal with. Less diva-y. More content.
“They make a weird pair, huh?” said Chayo, coming over to stand next to Roxy and Tessa.
“They sure do,” said Joy, joining them to look out at the water.
“I dunno,” said Tessa. “They’re happy together and that’s all that matters.”
“Amen to that, sister,” said Chayo, patting her on the shoulder.
Tessa looked around her and felt a deep sense of contentment. Here she was, on a cold beach while it was still, technically, winter, but surrounded by her closest friends and the woman she loved, witnessing a startling and beautiful transformation that was part self-discovery and part reunion with family either left behind or never known. Love for Roxy, for her friends, for the whole world filled Tessa’s heart, and she held that moment in her mind to look back on forever. It was one of life’s few, utterly perfect moments.
Epilogue
Several months later
Roxy blew the whistle.
The squeak of sneakers and the distinctive plastic thump of many basketballs bouncing on polished wood filled the gym. Soon enough, there was laughter too, along with shouts of “Over here!” and “I’m open!”
The students completed the last of the drills quickly, and soon it was time for Roxy’s favorite part—the scrimmage. Today she let them choose their teams, knowing that no one was going to be left at the end, unwanted. They were all friends, or at least friendly with one another—a fact that Roxy still marveled at.
When Tessa had first sold her on being a coach at her school, Roxy had resisted. She wasn’t smart enough to be a teacher, or a good enough athlete to be a coach. She’d worried, too, that being among high school students would trigger some of her less fond memories of her own time in high school.
Roxy’s fears had turned out to be completely unfounded, however. From the first day she’d been working with the students, she found herself completely in love with the job.
Being a coach was, in a lot of ways, very similar to being a kayaking or ski instructor. She’d never thought of those as “teacher” roles, but of course they were.
